When the federal government’s partial shutdown recently blocked payments to the families of four soldiers who were killed earlier this month on a mission in Afghanistan, the The Manhasset-based Lead the Way Fund stepped in.
The non-profit organization donated $100,000 for funeral and travel expenses to the families of two army rangers and two specialists slain in battle during the shutdown, which included a ban on payments to the families of troops killed in the War on Terror.
Robert Hotarek, a board member for the organization, said Lead the Way Fund officials were notified by the United States Special Operations Command’s headquarters that army rangers Pfc. Cody J. Patterson and Sgt. Patrick C. Hawkins, as well as specialists 1st Lt. Jennifer Marino and Sgt. Joseph Peters were killed in Afghanistan while on a ranger mission to kill a highly-valued military target.
“They called us first,” Hotarek said.
The organization, formed after founder Jim Regan’s son, was killed in Iraq in 2007, donated $25,000 a piece in funeral expenses to Patterson and Hawkins’ families, in addition to $50,000 split between Marino and Peters’ families to recover the bodies and for the families of the 11 wounded on the mission to travel to the military hospitals where their loved ones were being treated.
Within a week of a fatality, Hotarek said, the families of soldiers slain in battle normally receive a $100,000 lump sum from the federal government known as a “death gratuity.”
But the federal government’s recent partial shutdown included a ban on such payments, and grieving military families were not tended to during that time.
“We stood up, rose to the occasion, we were the first call, unfortunately it ended badly, but subsequently to our taking action, there were a number of other charities ready to support and condemning the shutdown,” Hotarek said. “The fact is we’re not the only ones who put up the money and we did it quietly and effectively.”
The 501c3 organization has helped the families of those who have died while serving in the military since Regan’s son, Sgt. James J. Regan, was killed in Northern Iraq in February 2007.
Efforts to reach Regan – who along with his wife Mary was in Washington attending last weekend’s Army 10-Miler race and visiting his son’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery in Bethesda, Md. – were unavailing.
The Lead the Way Fund raises money through donations and events. The organization has earned the Independent Charities of America’s Seal of Excellence, which has been awarded to less than 5 percent of the approximately 1 million charities currently operating in the United States, according to the fund’s official Web site.
Hotarek said he’s uncertain whether the federal government is aware of the organization’s existence, and that he did not know or care if the fund made a reimbursement claim.
“We expect further demand and to support these people,” Hotarek said.
